A personal blog about quilting, sewing and life as a mother. Lots of free tutorials including beginning quilting tutorials, binding tutorials, and other sewing projects like bags, quilt blocks and nursing covers.

Help Wanted: Sewing Machine Advice

From time to time I get emails from nice readers who are looking for advice about where and what to buy for their first sewing machine purchase. And being the really helpful person that I am, I write back and tell them that I have no idea. I always feel like a total schlub.

While I thoroughly enjoy sewing, my sewing machine experience has been really limited. In fact, I have been blissfully sewing away on my Bernina Sport 801 for most of my sewing life. It’s probably about as old as I am. This machine is fantastic – I love it. It’s not the easiest machine to lug around – it’s pretty heavy, but I like that it feels sturdy. I don’t do a lot of fancy stuff – mainly all I sew are straight lines with a 1/4″ seam allowance. I also don’t do very much quilting with my machine other than mini quilts and some baby quilts. If I were doing a lot of machine quilting, I would probably get frustrated because it has such a narrow throat. But for what I do use my machine for, it’s awesome.

So basically my only advice thus far has been, decide what your needs are (now and future) and get the best machine you can afford. If you don’t need all the bells and whistles, don’t get them. But I’d really love to be able to point folks to something a lot more concrete than that. This is the part where I’d love your help.

If you have a great machine or have read any posts about finding the perfect beginning machine and you’d like to share that info, please leave it in the comments. Then I’ll be able to sleep at night at least knowing that folks are finding some answers instead of the virtual blank stare they get from me on this topic.

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I have a janome 6600p that I LOVE. It&#39;s probably a little pricey for a beginner machine, but it is a real workhouse and it has a large throat for quilting. I have quilted queen size quilts with it. I would also recommend the place I bought mine, Brubaker&#39;s. They are amazing!

I too have a Janome 6500 and love, love, love my machine. I was using a 30 year old Singer to sew with before replacing it the the Janome because I couldn&#39;t lower the feed dogs to machine quilt. While I am still new to quilting, the Janome is a perfect machine for all my sewing needs.

I have the Janome 6500 and I also bought thru Brubaker&#39;s. At the Lancaster Quilt Show a few years ago. Love it and think I will have it for years to come. This is my 4th Janome machine. I say &quot; User Friendly&quot; tried a lot of machine but this is the best for the price too! Margie G.

I don&#39;t like fancy stitches and I have a thrift store machine that will zigzag when needed so I bought just a workhorse straight stitch machine – a Juki tl98Q (with the thread cutter!). I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE my machine and it came with lots of quilting feet. I absolutely know it&#39;s not for everyone but it is good for what *I* do. I&#39;d hate to sew a ton of garments on it though

Add me to the Juki bandwagon – I&#39;ve got a TL2000Qi and love it. I have a Husqvarna I sew clothes and such on, but for quilting, you can&#39;t beat a Juki. I&#39;ve machine quilted some pretty big quilts and it works beautifully.

Juki come right in with the Janome machines…They are great workhorses if you want a lasting machine then get the Jamome&#39;s or Juki&#39;s for your first machine. how cool to find it at a thrift store what a deal.

I have several machines but the one that I love for carting around is my Brother CS6000i. It has lots of different stitches, a variety of feet, an extension table, easy buttonhole attachment and is very lightweight. It is the machine that my granddaughter got for Christmas and she loves it.

I grew up with an old Singer, then a Necchi that I lugged to college. For years I had an inexpensive Brother {love that in their lower cost machines, you can still get an auto thread cutter} and it worked great for many things. I just bought a Janome for the large throat and I don&#39;t know how I survived without it. Hope that helps

I grew up using Kenmore&#39;s….they have never let me down…they&#39;re solid and usually come with a variety of features for an affordable price. However, I did decide to upgrade to something with bells and whistles, in a price I could afford, and chose the Brother PC 420 – they sell it at Overstock.com. Anyway, it is a good machine. It&#39;s similar to Innovis, but I couldn&#39;t afford

OMG – I&#39;m in LOVE w/my Brother 420!! I researched long and hard. I was initially looking into Janome, Bernina, and other popular high end machines. But the machines in my price range didn&#39;t have the features that I wanted – and I just couldn&#39;t justify going that far out of my budget. The brother machines seemed to get good reviews online. I really wanted fonts and fancy stitches

Glad to pipe in…as a long time quilting teacher I am asked ALL the time which machine to buy. I always tell my students it is NOT the machine…it is the support you get from the people who sell you the machine. That is why Costco etc are not the place to buy a machine. A good shop will offer continuous support and classes. I also tell my students to &quot;underbuy&quot;. Again…a good

I totally agree!! Buy for the dealer!! I bought from Hinkletown and I would never but from any other place!! I LOVE them!! Great classes and ALWAYS great service!! If you are in PA you won&#39;t be sorry at that stop!!

I tell women who are wanting to buy their first sewing machine to invest in a used older machine, like a Bernina or Pfaff. The older machines are so well built and while they might not have the bells and whistles of the newer machines, they are workhorses and require very little maintenance.

definitely go to a great shop that will throw in a bunch of classes as a package deal. you will learn a lot about your machine this way and don&#39;t just do the quilting classes, do the apparel or how to make a bag too. I just bought a babylock grace and for my needs at the moment it&#39;s perfect. but i have the option to trade up later on. the staff at the store where i got my machine are so

Everyone seems to have a different favorite. I&#39;ve had several over the years, but my current favorite is my Bernina Aurora 440…made especially for machine-quilting. I use the Bernina stitch regulator foot all the time. It is awesome! I also love my vintage Pfaff (I&#39;ve bought and sold several. They are wonderful). That&#39;s my recommendation, but I have to agree–ou really need to

i agree with loriginsberg – i have a mechanical bernina 830 (my grandmother&#39;s!) and have only had to get it serviced when it was damaged in shipping. it works so much better than some of my friend&#39;s machines, which were brand new, and it&#39;s obviously been working that well for about 40 years now. you can find them used on ebay. i know there isn&#39;t that support (i totally agree this

I second this recommendation. I purchased a second-hand Bernina 830 Record back in 1995. It was $600 then which was a lot of money for us but I have never regretted it. I have since been able to afford to upgrade to a Viking with all the fancy stitches but my Bernina is still my go-to machine. It weighs a ton because it is mechanical (vs. plastic and electronic) but it is so unbelievably reliable

I&#39;ve heard many times that the older Berninas and Pfaffs are where it&#39;s at – if you can find one! Personally, I have a Janome 7700 and it is AMAZING. I love it. The throat space makes quilting large quilts so easy. I started out with a Brother CS6000i and I love that machine so much, too. It&#39;s what my sewing students use when they come for lessons – plenty of stitches and features,

I have only been quilting for a few years but I sew alot. I wore out my first machine in 10 months. Then I bought a Singer 7469Q Quilters Confidence it still works great and is a fantastic loaner machine. My nice husband upgraded my machine at Christmas and I have an new Janome Horizon 7700 I love love love the huge throat and when &quot;she&quot; decides to play nice it is an awesome machine.

For new quilters, I second the recommendation of the Singer 7469Q Quilters Confidence. It comes with all the equipment needed for quilting – FMQ foot, walking foot, 1/4 inch foot, extension table – and even a few fancy stitches! This is what I recommend to anyone just starting out, needing a machine, who wants to do quilting and maybe some other things too.

I have the Singer Confidence Quilter and have pieced several quilts on it. I like the ease of threading and all the attachments that came with it. However, it does not sew well over double seams. I have to lift the presser foot to get it to move. I wonder, since this machine gets good reviews, if I am the only one with this problem.

I have a Juki TL98Q and I love it!!! It just does a straight stitch, has needle down and an auto thread cutter (all wonderful for quilting). It also has a longer throat which is great, since I quilt all of my own quilts. This machine is a workhorse and does not disappoint. It is heavy so not one to lug around. I also have a Baby Lock which does all the other stitches when I need it. Plus it

I have this same Juki and it truly is a dream machine for piecing and quilting. I purchased it online two years ago for $800 and it was well worth the price. My first machine is still around, for it can sew button holes and zigzags. But when it comes to quilting, the Juki outperforms the cheaper machine significantly.

I actually think your advice is spot on. I think sewing machines are pretty subjective–as in–people basically like what they are used to. So, since I sew on a 15yr old Kenmore/Singer I feel no need to spend more money on a Bernina, etc. It suits my needs just fine for everyday sewing/quilting. While someone who has only sewn on a Bernina swears they are the best thing since sliced bread.

I used to have a Pfaff (a 1987 model) and it was awful–all METRIC. Try sewing 1/4 and 3/8 seams on a machine with metric markings and feet and all. Egads! I had tape all over it to mark my seam allowances, and every time I took it in for service (it had bobbin issues the entire 20 years I had it), they had to rip off the tape to access everything. Supposedly you could buy a replacement piece

I live on a boat so I won&#39;t buy any machine that is too expensive for fear that it will get ruined. I bought a Janome 8077 2.5 years ago and still love it. I can even do sail repairs on it (I don&#39;t really like using my machine for this but sometimes it&#39;s necessary and proves you can actually get a decent amount of fabric in it). It is a top loading computerized machine and has a great

I have a Husqvarna Scandinavia 200, it&#39;s about 5 years old. It&#39;s an electronic machine with a few bells and whistles. I love it. If I travel to a class or retreat, I take a smaller lighter machine, my Janome SUV1108, it&#39;s mechanical not electronic, but I love it. I just bought it last year so it still kind of has that new machine feel! I don&#39;t like Pfaff machines, even though I&#

My first machine was a Pfaff and at the time, I loved it. Then I discovered the Singer Featherweight and I haven&#39;t looked back. It has nothing in the way of fancy stitches, it&#39;s just simple straight stitch but it sews beautifully and is very quiet which I can&#39;t say about the Pfaff (or any machine made primarily of plastic). I do all my piecing on it and most of my quilting…

I have a Singer Model 15 born August 18, 1909 which I love. It is a treadle machine (very green.)I admit at least part of the attraction is that the machine belonged to my Great-Grandmother. She was a seamstress. It is also an incredible workhorse of a machine. I have successfully sewed leather purses in addition to clothing and FMQ full sized quilts. I tried three different darning feet before

I have been told that even though Walmart and Costco type places sell machines such as Singer and Brother that those machine are made for those stores and are not the quality you can get at a sewing machine store with the same Brands (Singer and Brother, etc.)

I started out with a cheap old Singer and had to replace it after a couple of years, but I LOVE my Janome DC2007 (Mid-level, cheapest Janome with auto-tension). I mostly agree with the people saying &quot;what you learn on, that&#39;s what you like,&quot; but for me I never did get attached to that old Singer, it was too persnickety. I personally have never relied on classes, I much prefer to

I started with a &lt;$100 Singer and taught myself how to sew. But it really frustrated me for so many reasons. So about 2 years ago I took our tax return and purchased what I could afford a Bernina Activa 210. It&#39;s a dream machine. It runs great, threads easily, has some decorative stitching but is really basic. I&#39;ve hemmed jeans (no problem), sewn delicate baby outfits, and quilted

I&#39;m with the above two posters in saying vintage singer is the way to do. I have Singer a 15 handcrank (mine is newer 1940&#39;s – and has reverse), 99 (no reverse), 221 Featherweight (beautifully quiet!) and a 319k which takes special needles, but does a whole tonne of decorative stitches. They are all workhorses and work like a dream. You can maintain them yourself very easily. If you want

I have an old 1950s Novum which sews like a dream … the straightest stitches ever and a lovely harp … now I sew mostly on my cheapo Brother Innovis 10 … faster, easier (needle down, speed control and all that) but really I pine for a lovely Janome or Bernina

I love my PFaff Quilting Expression machine. It is about 10 years old and I have not had a single problem! I oil it regularly, change the needle occassionally and have yet to feel it needs to be serviced although I&#39;m sure I should take it in – just can&#39;t imagine being without it! <br /><br />My very favorite feature is the built in walking foot (IDT)! I have sewn everything from silk

I have a Kenmore, pretty basic model but it has way more stitches than I use and cost @$200 in 2008. My previous machine was also a Kenmore and I had it since 1980 or so. I do not know how to free motion quilt but it has the capacity to do so. I do all my own straight line quilting on quilts up to 70&quot; and it can be a bit taxing when that large but I can do it. I love this machine and it

Just brought home a Janome 2160DC, and I love it!!!! I&#39;ve done more actual sewing in the past two weeks I&#39;ve had it, than in the past few years. I had an old Riccar that weighed a million lbs, and finally kicked the bucket. I don&#39;t fight with the Janome! It just does what I want the first time, every time. It was fairly affordable, makes me more confident to try new projects.

I have a Janome 6600P. I learned to sew on a Kenmore. What I love about my machine: speed control, needle up/down, large throat space for quilting. The Kenmore was a Ford Fiesta, but the Janome is a Lexus.

I am a VERY loyal Pfaff owner… Don&#39;t even want to count the years I&#39;ve been sewing on one! We&#39;ll just leave it at &quot;many&quot;.. As said above, my favourite feature is the built in walking foot – i truly can&#39;t imagine sewing without it!! I too recommend a Pfaff, without hesitation!!

I made my first couple of quilts on a $90 Singer from Target. I was teaching some friends to quilt recently, and some of them needed to get a machine. I figured, if they weren&#39;t yet sure if sewing was for them, it wouldn&#39;t hurt to get a relatively inexpensive machine. Does it work as smoothly? Of course not. But starting to quilt is an expensive endeavor. If a (comparatively) inexpensive

I have been sewing on a Kenmore for over 20 years and it&#39;s still going strong. When hubby bought me a quilting frame for Christmas a few years back, he also bought the suggested sewing machine to use with it — a Janome. I haven&#39;t used the frame or the new sewing machine yet… that is soon to end within the next month or so. Oh, by the way, hubby picked up my new Kenmore for $20-$25

I have a Kenmore Elite. I got it 10 yrs ago when leaving my job instead of rolling over my 401k I bought a sewing machine with the money. I have never had a problem. I have had it professionaly cleaned twice. Before the Kenmore I had an old Singer that I donated to my sister-n-law, never had any problems with that one and it is still running strong. I am so glad everyone is leaving some info

The &quot;what machine&quot; is always a difficult and personal decision. I have taught sewing classes for over thirty years and have used extensively or owned every major brand of sewing machine. My all time favorite is Bernina -hands down! There is a reason you are still using your vintage Bernina- they are really that well made. The only things you have to know are but a Bernina (not a

I love my Berninas! All of them. I collect vintage machines. My oldest is from 1932 and the book is in German. I&#39;ve had a $10 garage sale anchor (don&#39;t recall the brand, but it was HEAVY! and had bad tension). I have had a beginner Kenmore and a Pfaff. But I love my Berninas. They are built to last can stitch through anything I throw at them and keep on purring. I love the fancy stitches,

Mostly similar to what you said Amy – for a new quilter or sewer, my advice is to go to a sewing machine dealer. Dealers will usually carry used machines for sale that are far better quality than a new machine from a chain or big box store. Look for good straight stitch quality and consistent 1/4 seam, not so much the most features &amp; fancy stitches. After you have been sewing/quilting for a

I think you advice was right on. I have a Bernette (a plastic version of the Bernina) and I love it. I&#39;ve had it almost 20 years and it works just fine. What every anyone does about buying a machine make sure you have a good place to take it for cleaning and any possible repairs. The older the repairman the better.

I love my Bernina&#39;s. I have an artista ( a gift,truth be told I didn&#39;t need this much machine) and a Bernette which is great fun for an afternoon os simple sewing with my friends or a class.My Artista is my second work horse Bernina I loved the first one too, a Quilters version.

I have a Bernina 440 QE that I like, however I bought it for the stitch regulator foot and HATE the foot! The machine is fine, but not something I can&#39;t live without. My goal for the year is to learn to quilt well without it, at which point I will sell it and buy a Pfaff. I learned, and spent my first 10 years on a Costco Singer and still love it. It hasn&#39;t required a single bit of

Hahaha — quilters are usually passionate about their machines. I&#39;m a Die. Hard. Viking fan. My dad bought my non-sewing mother a top-of-the-line Viking when I was a little girl — we both learned on it. Then I bought another one in my early twenties and another one 10 years ago. I still have all three and they&#39;re all wonderful machines. My sister and I occasionally fight over that

My parents gave me a little 12 stitch Kenmore as a graduation present from high school. I took it to college, sewed my wedding dress and later for my children all without a single hiccup. I loved my Kenmore (Betsy) and still have her. When I wanted to upgrade to a machine that had more stitch options, some quilting features and an embroidery function I chose the Janome 9500 (Opal LOL) I am

Sewing on a Pfaff for the first time after using my $75 Walmart Brother was like going from a Ford Escort hatchback (my college car) to a Cadillac (still don&#39;t have one of those!). There is no comparison. The great thing about Pfaff is the built-in walking foot (IDT). SO WORTH IT. And I found my $900 machine on craigslist for under $250! My advice is to just check frequently for what you

I have always been a Bernina Girl….But when it came to purchasing 2 machines for my little people to use I opted for the janome 3128. It retails for $139.00 &amp; you can regularly get it @ Hancock Fabrics for $79 with coupons &amp; a sale. It does straight stitch, zig-sag, buttonhole, has a free arm along with 8 other utility stitches. Includes a 1/4&quot; foot and is light weight for

Singer is my favorite brand at the moment, they offer good machines at low prices. The first Singer I ever got was the Singer 1507WC and I absolutely loved it. It&#39;s perfect for any beginner and it&#39;s got a great price tag to boot. Unfortunately when my husband was driving cross country he got into a wreck and it got smashed. Sad sad day for me, lol. The second machine I got was a Brother

i bought a little singer quilter five or six years ago … it had lots of stitches, all the quilting attachments [including the dual feed foot] necessary for a beginner and didn&#39;t pay much for it. i made me a &#39;new&#39; sewing room last year and put a new viking in there. i sold my little singer for almost as much as i paid for it to a quilter for a take along machine. i like my viking

What a great question! My latest machine is a Pfaff 1473, which I bought used in 1993. It is a home machine, very solidly built but light weight and thus, portable. The features that I like most are the dual feed (built-in walking foot), the needle down option, which allows you to pivot and turn with the needle in the cloth, the snail button which allows you to slow down when doing something

I just started quilting about 2 years ago, and bought a Janome Magnolia 7330 which I LOVE! It&#39;s simple to use (I&#39;d never used a sewing machine before) and I&#39;ve never had any issues with it. Highly recommend this machine for beginner quilters – it was about $350, so it wasn&#39;t a huge investment, but it sews extremely well.

I have a Janome DC2010. It is simple to operate and works like a dream! I mainly sew 1/4 inch seams and straight lines as well, and have quilted some baby sized quilts. Some day I might want to upgrade to something a little more fancy, but I truly love my cute little Janome!

My first sewing machine was a Consumer Reports best buy of the year which just so happened to be a Sears Kenmore sewing machine. It was a simple machine, but was an excellent starting machine. At the time it was easily a tenth the price of the primo sewing machine of the year. I say check out Consumer Reports best buy and go for it.:)

You can not go wrong with a bernina Old or new, I have an artista 180 a 930 record,a 701 mini matic and a 730 record and LOVE LOVE them all!!! I have several other machines but he one I recommend with out hesitations is a bernina the 930 is like iron strong strong machine!!!

I teach beginning sewing and I am asked this question all the time. I advise students to get something basic. I advise them to read reviews of different machines. Even trusted brands can produce a lemon every once in awhile, and without reading about a specific model, you just can&#39;t be certain.

I started with a very cheap Brother and it was so frustrating that I never wanted to bother with sewing. I purchased a Husqvarna Viking – Sapphire 800 series, which was a trade in, and was not comfortable with some of the features at all. I finally upgraded to a Pfaff Quilt Expression 2048 (which has been upgraded to the QE 4.0) and I adore this machine! Lots of options, but a great sturdy

All my life growing up I sewed on Singers or on Kenmores, which back then were made by Singer. I still love a good mechanical Singer, and own five, all the way from a treadle to a 1900&#39;s &quot;portable&quot; machine to a featherweight to two more modern machines with some bells and whistles (the most recent a Singer 7470). But the amount of quilting I was doing was wearing out my 7470 (in

I have been building a stash over the last few years for the day that I would take a stab at quilting. Being a newbie, I am mainly concentrating on piecing (quilting a few smaller projects). Until I was sure of what options were a necessity, I purchased a late 60&#39;s/early 70&#39;s Kenmore Zig Zag metal body at a garage sale for $5.00. It is a work horse, easy for me to oil and maintain, and

The home sewing machines I have some experience with are Bernina, Pfaff and Brother. When I was first starting to sew again, I took courses at the adult education centre where they used Berninas. The teacher said that those machines just last the longest and are the best value in their experience. I liked sewing with them and they were sturdy. I&#39;m not crazy about the needle-down automatic,

I have a Bernina 1080 that I love. I bought it in 1994 after sitting at the Bernina booth and trying it out at the Houston Quilt show. It is metal and a work horse. I have never had a problem with it. My father bought one for my Mom after he saw mine. I recently coached a friend into buying one on ebay for a fraction of the original cost. She LOVES it too!

I used to have an all metal Nechi. Then I bought the Brother CS6000i, and it changed my life I love it. I was told that all metal machines were superior to the new computerized machines. I completely disagree. My Brother runs so much smoother and the level or control is much higher. If I was wealthy I would have gotten the more expensive Brother, but mine works fine and I don&#39;t care

The new plastic Singers are not the equivalent of the old ones. Old black Singers — the 15s and the 201-2 in particular — are fabulous machines. Please note that the model number is infrequently posted on these machines, but you can find it on the cover of the manual. The 201-2 in particular is widely regarded as the finest machine Singer ever made. It&#39;s bigger than but has the same

I sew and quilt on my Bernina 440 Quilter&#39;s Edition. It is a workhorse and I love it. I quilt all my quilts on this domestic sewing machine. I can&#39;t brag enough about Bernina. Everything they make is awesome quality!

SOOOO Interesting to read all the comments!!<br /><br />I too teach sewing. And I am VERY thrifty….so I have never owned a new machine. I currently have a Janome MC5700, Janome MC9000 and a SInger professional 1/2 horsepower cast iron machine. I am patiently watching and waiting for a Janome 6500 to come for sale because it quilts like a dream!<br /><br />Having said that I tell people who

I have a Janome Jem Platinum 760 and I love it. It&#39;s smaller and portable so I can sew all over the house. But it&#39;s full featured and very sturdy. I&#39;ve even managed to quilt a 70 x 70 quilt (straight lines) with it but the throat is not that big.

I love my Babylock Melody. I got it on a big sale and it came with 14 feet and quilting table attachment. I had been using a Viking Huskystar 207 and the dealer here was less than helpful. Apparently Viking orphaned the Huskystar and I couldn&#39;t get any feet. I especially loved when the dealer told me &quot;Good Luck&quot;. I test drove the Bernina&#39;s but the drop in bobbin on the BabyLock

I got the Babylock Melody after using a Kenmore for years. Just took an owner&#39;s class and this machine does a lot. I&#39;ve made several quilts on it already, and it&#39;s a great little machine. Really pieces beautifully and gives you an exact 1/4&quot; seam allowance. My Kenmore never had an exact 1/4&quot; seam allowance. I especially love the side-sewing options you can use (Perfect for

Last week I got a Janome 3160QDC. It&#39;s PERFECT!!! I quilt and do general sewing. It&#39;s a very good quality machine with excellent ratings (most Janomes have excellent ratings, based on my research). The best part is that the accessories are high quality but don&#39;t cost a fortune, as they do with other brands. Works like a dream!

I am a total and complete Janome fan. I have the Janome 6500 which I bought on line at SEWVACDIRECT for $999.00. They shipped within the week and I have loved it. I also have the Janome embroidery machine and the Janome Decor which are all fabulous, reliable, and worth every penny. Be leery of machines with plastic parts inside (some brothers and singers) because they will melt with heavy use. I

I have a Kenmore-advertised as the quilter&#39;s machine (Kenmore=Janome)&amp; I&#39;ve been happier than a clam with it. It has needle down &amp; you can order a walking foot for it. My previous machine (which I still own)was a catalog purchase from Spiegel way back in the late 70&#39;s. It still works just fine, but I wanted something newer too. I also have a Singer Featherweight for taking to

So I am a new Quilter and first I want to thank you for all your awesome Tuts, Ive been using them to learn. I just recently purchased the Brother CS6000i, and it&#39;s pretty awesome for the price and really great for beginners. I do find myself already wanting to save up for a more long term sewing machine that will fit my needs, probably Bernina, Janome. But here are some pros and cons of the

I love my Babylock Espire! I think they changed the name, but it&#39;s still being made! It&#39;s an upper end machine, but wonderful. I can quilt anything on it as well as precision piece. It also has all the fancy stitches I need for garment construction and decorative stitching. My dealer, Cotton Shop, in Provo, UT is great as well.<br /><br />When I decided to buy an upper end machine I

My first sewing machine was a White Sewing Machine Company machine, and I got it when I was 7 years old for Christmas. Over 20 years later, it&#39;s still kicking along, but I run into some tension issues now and again (probably because it&#39;s 20+ years old and has never been serviced). I understand from Wikipedia that White Sewing Machine Company was bought back in the 80s by the people who

I started sewing on a 1962 Elna Super Bluetop. It&#39;s a wonderful machine that, in it&#39;s day was very good.<br /><br />I&#39;m sewing more now, and moving from strictly quilts to quilts and girls apparel. Last year I was ready to upgrade. I, like many of the readers commenting above, identified my key features (easy change feet, ability to use a walking foot, feed dogs that drop – they

I have a Janome MC4800 and love it! It has some of the nicer features of a more expensive machine at a much more moderate price (700.00). It sews smoothly and does fine for quilting and bulkier projects. I sew both clothes and quilts, so I wanted a variety of features. Someday I hope to &quot;upgrade&quot; to a Bernina, but honestly I&#39;ve looked at them several times in the last couple

I had an old Singer I finally wore out (I live int the middle of nowhere… so I checked on fixing it and the shipping etc. was way more than I paid for the machine ten years prior at a second-hand store). I was going to splurge and buy a &quot;real&quot; quilting machine when a family member heard my machine died and sent an old Kenmore. It works so I just keep using it… however it is loud

As a fairly new quilter can I just say &quot;thank you&quot; for this timely post and all of your comments. I machine shopped today and read all of this before my shopping trip. I never knew I could negotiate on the price, nor did I know there was the possibility of buying used machines, or floor models! I found the perfect machine today and because of this I was able to get more than what I

I have two machines…a 1950&#39;s Singer 301 and a Janome Threadbanger TB30. Love them both. I piece and quilt with both of them, but I long for my Janome 6500 that my husband killed in a move. That was THE best machine I have ever quilted on. Some day I&#39;ll own another.

So many machine lovers! I have had a Kenmore (made by Janome) 30 stitch for 22 years and done everything imaginable on it including a queen sized denim quilt without it even batting an eye. It is still in used almost daily and works great. I also have a Singer Featherweight and a Singer 301 which are both quiet and reliable with incredible straight stitches. I have my Mom&#39;s Singer Quantum

Ah Singer, how I&#39;m sad to hate thee. My sisters and I all have Singers. They are all different models that are not &quot;beginner&quot; machines, nor the super expensive ones. We all hate them. If I didn&#39;t need a sewing machine so badly it would give me great satisfaction to send my Singer flying out a second story window. It is difficult to get it to sew in a straight line (no, it&#39;s

In 2011, I bought a Singer for my DIL after my grandson was born and while I was demonstrating the features on it, I dropped the feed dogs and they wouldn&#39;t come back up. We took it back to the store and the display model did the same lousy thing. So I returned the Singer and bought her a Brother. I have one and adore it. So sad to see Singer die a slow death.

Hi, <br />Will you please post a link to your Blog at The Sewing Community? Our members will love it. <br />Members include: Needleworkers, Clothes and Dress Makers, Enthusiasts, Experts, Groups, Clubs, etc.<br />It&#39;s easy to do, just cut and paste the link and it automatically links back to your website. You can also add Photos, Videos and Classifieds if you like.<br />Email me if you need

I started sewing on my Mom&#39;s Singer when I was a teenager. Now I have a Bernina Virtuosa 150 QE that I bought about 15 years ago. She has lots of features and we have spent many, many happy hours together on everything from quilts, to curtains to garments. Loretta was named for my paternal Grandmother who taught me a lot about hand quilting as well as many life lessons

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Bernina 440QE. Each stitch is perfect – and it&#39;s solid and reliable and just keeps going. I also love the Sew Ezi table it&#39;s set into – all very comfortable and portable. I&#39;ve just invested in a Juki TL98 – I wanted a bit more throat space for bigger quilts. I haven&#39;t had much playtime with it yet, but I love it&#39;s simplicity and solidity. It&#39;s also

Wow, ask and ye shall receive? Seems sewers can&#39;t wait to share, and I just found you on MMM blog hop and must chime in too. After pitching my 1990&#39;s Singer POS out the window, in 2006 I bought the Brother CS6000i and have had zero problems with it. I sew clothes and home dec and it&#39;s perfect for that and have just recently gotten into quilting. It has needle down which is an

I have a Janome Jem Platinum 760 that I love! It&#39;s computerized and full featured and very portable so I can take it anywhere. I&#39;ve straight line quilted a few smaller quilts on it but it&#39;s really too small to use for free motion quilting anything larger than a baby quilt. So now I&#39;m looking to get a Juki TL-2010Q to free motion quilt on but I still love my Janome!

For a first machine, for a little girl … I would recommend.. singer 221 featherweight.. so cute, fun and easy to use.. no headaches, oil and go.<br />for a teenager I would then go to a 201-2 or 201-k .or a 15-90 model.. they are also carefree straight stitch sewing.. add a 401A for a few stitch options. and they are very easy, fun and a good first experience for sewing.. they will always

My first sewing machine was a Singer that my parents bought for me. I don&#39;t remember the model or make. It was in the 1970s. It wasn&#39;t that great of a sewing machine. I traded it in for a (Janome) New Home Memory Craft 6000 in 1984. The MC6000 machine is a real work horse. It is made well – not plastic – nice and heavy. Came with tons of feet and did decorative stitching. I

<br /> After being in relationship with my boyfriend for six years,he broke up with me,I did everything possible to bring him back but all was in vain, I wanted him back so much because of the love I have for him, I begged him with everything, I made promises but he refused. I explained my problem to someone online and she suggested that I should rather contact a spell caster that could help me

My grandmother got me a Singer as a wedding present. It died as I put the binding on my first quilt. I knew that I enjoyed quilting but wasn&#39;t sure it was going to be the only thing I sewed. I went to the Brother dealership and a nice woman named Rosemary sat with me for an hour showing me how to thread the needle, wind and load the bobbin, and even how to do some basic FMQ. I went with a

There is a place where my sister always looked for advice, whenever she felt like buying a sewing machine. She has 25 years of sewing experience. It seems she trusts them and I guess they have some pretty honest reviews. You may read <br />http://www.best-home-ideas.com/

I have a Singer 7258 which I love. It cost only $180, and it&#39;s held up great for the year I&#39;ve been sewing regularly on it. (I&#39;ve owned it longer but didn&#39;t sew frequently at first.) My primary interest is quilting, and it&#39;s had no problem with the piecing, free-motion quilting, and binding that I&#39;ve done with it. It&#39;s got all the features you could ask for (like

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